Monday, April 4, 2011

Mangroves go trade-able

Mangroves go trade-able: New CDM methodology for afforestation and reforestation of tidal forests

Written (for Blue Carbon Blog) by: Zbigniew J. Grabowski, Director of Community and Ecology, http://www.pureinteractions.com

A project put together by the Danone Fund for Nature, the IUCN, the Ramsar Convention and Oceanium, a Senegalese NGO is the first of its kind to submit for accreditation under the Clean Development Mechanism. The project design document and monitoring methodology are open for comment until February 22, 2011. The project aims to deliver significant conservation and sustainable development co-benefits by restoring mangrove habitats providing habitat for economically important biodiversity and improving the local and regional environment.

The project focuses on reforestation of areas identified to be suitable by a variety of mangrove species. The proposed methodology (coded as ARNM0038) combines a number of pre-existing CDM methods for afforestation and reforestation (A/R) of degraded land (AR-ACM001, AR-ACM0002), land under agricultural use (AR-AM004), shrub supported A/R on degraded land (AR-AM0006), and includes the simplified baseline and monitoring methodology for small scale CDM A/R project activities implemented on wetlands (AR-AMS0003).

Included in the methodology are carbon pools of above and below ground biomass, dead wood, litter and soil organic carbon.

If approved, similar mangrove restoration projects would be able to produce Certified Emissions Reductions (CER) carbon credits which can be used by Kyoto signatories to meet their emissions reduction targets. CERs are currently traded by Annex 1 countries, and a 2% levy on CERs issued by the CDM fund the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund.

View the draft Project Design Document (PDD) here.
https://cdm.unfccc.int/UserManagement/FileStorage/2OG4ZAT0X7CFSP1N95HKDUQ83J6MRI

View the draft methodology here.
https://cdm.unfccc.int/UserManagement/FileStorage/HF4G5IKCPRD67ZANMTL3XYEB1OQ2UV

Comments can be submitted online at:
https://cdm.unfccc.int/methodologies/ARmethodologies/pnm/byref/ARNM0038

See the news blurb from Ecosystem Marketplace in their 17th of February news bulletin here:
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=8030&section=home

Information on CDM and JI markets from Ecosystem Marketplace here:
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/web.page.php?section=carbon_market&page_name=kyoto_market

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In follow-up, see the following:

The Danone Fund for Nature (at the Ramsar Convention Convention on Wetlands web page):
http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-activities-private-danone-danone-fund-for-23925/main/ramsar/1-63-98-398%5E23925_4000_0__

Achieving Carbon Offsets through Mangroves and Other Wetlands, Meeting Report, Expert Workshop, November 2009, 92 pp:
http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/DFN_report_Final.pdf

The Wetland Carbon Partnership (IUCN, Ramsar and Danone)
http://wetcarbon.earthmind.net/